Symbol (Shinboru) (2009)

Some jokes didn't stick well, but Matsumoto is fun to watch, and the movie has many good ideas. The mexican segment was a blast to watch, amazing that a japanese man seems to have a better grasp of mexican culture than most mexican "hot shit" directors of today.

Hitoshi Matsumoto's sophomore film Symbol is quite the bizarre picture. The funny thing is, that isn't surprising.

It is hard to find a smooth clear story for this 90 minute picture. The first hour goes back and forth between a Mexican wrestler and a man that wakes up in a white room with no windows or doors. No visible ones anyway. The Mexican Wrestler scenes are pretty uneventful and almost seem like fillers to the man in the white room scenes. As for the latter, these scenes are more entertaining. The antics that happen in this white room is Matsumoto's comedy at work and it is quite hilarious. Objects appear out of nowhere thanks to these "switches" all over the room.

Up to this point, nothing is clear as to what is exactly going on. The Mexican wrestler and the man in the white room stories do eventually collide and that doesn't make it any better. In fact, the final 30 minutes just gets more mind boggling.

Hitoshi Matsumoto casts himself as the man in the white room and he puts on a good performance, despite the fact that his dialgoue is minimal. He does do a lot of screaming and moaning though.

Symbol is a film that leaves many thinking; however it is recommended for those that choose to see something DIFFERENT.